Plasmas can be created by supplying energy to a neutral gas so that free electrons and ions are created. In a thermal plasma, electrons, ions, and neutral atoms and/or molecules (referred to as “neutrals”) are in thermal equilibrium. However, in a non-thermal plasma, the electron temperature may be much higher than the temperature of ions and neutrals, and the energy distribution of the electrons may be highly non-Maxwellian (i.e., not following a Maxwell-Boltzmann distribution). In some cases, non-thermal plasmas could exist at high pressures. In such high-pressure plasmas, collision and radiative processes may be dominated by step-wise processes and three-body collisions that create excimers. These processes may be of importance to a wide range of applications, including high-power lasers, synthesis of nanomaterials, electromagnetic absorbers and reflectors, control of the boundary layer in airfoils, and biological decontamination. Unfortunately, previous systems have been unable to generate non-thermal, high-pressure plasmas in large volumes due to instabilities, which limits their practical utility. Systems and methods that could be used to generate stable, high-pressure plasmas in large volumes would therefore be desirable.